The National Football League announced on its website the New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton will be suspended for one season without pay for his role in the Saints’ bounty program.
The league levied punishments for Payton, team general manager Mickey Loomis and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams Wednesday morning. The NFL Players Union requested the team not take any action on the involved Saints defensive players until the union completed its own investigation.
According to NFL.com, Williams has been suspended indefinitely and Loomis has been suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season.
The bounty program was allegedly structured so that Saints players who performed a “knockout” hit would receive $1,500 and those performing “cart-off” hits got $1,000.
Payton led New Orleans to a Super Bowl win following the 2009 season.